2012: The Year Ahead in Tech

Certainly, the distinct trend for 2012 we're picking up from developers is that multi-platform engines are now being designed with next-gen at least partly in mind. EA is in full transition mode with the deployment of its Frostbite 2 technology: Battlefield 3 and Need for Speed: The Run have already shipped, the new Command and Conquer uses DICE's engine and there are a number of rumours circulating suggesting that other tentpole franchises will be based upon the tech.

'Next-gen' Smart TVs will bring internet - and gaming - to flatpanel screens with offshoots of smartphone processing technology at their core. Will this be the next big iOS product?

It all makes sense. Rumours strongly suggest that the next-generation Xbox will get its debut at E3 this year and roll-out towards the end of 2013. But release dates can shift and of course, we still have no real idea when Sony intends to release its next PlayStation. In theory, next-gen titles need to be in development now, but may still need to be viable for current generation platforms.

Technologies like Frostbite 2 make this possible, but it's not just EA following this strategy. Gamasutra's intriguing interview with Bungie's Hao Chen strongly hints that the company's first multi-platform console title uses similar architectural principles to those used by DICE. Chen reveals that the engine the company used so successfully for Halo: Reach has been significantly re-engineered for its cross-platform debut and even without detailed next-gen specs, general trends in hardware development - not least the rise of DirectX 11 - offer developers more than enough clues on where their resources should be allocated.

"The other challenge is to have a good architecture for multi-threaded, multi-core designs that allow us to distribute work across different hardware threads, and have as many things execute in parallel as possible. We found out that even for Xbox 360, we were grossly under-utilising the CPU, mostly due to our multi-threading design that doesn't allow us to spread the work and execute them in parallel. So we re-did the whole architecture in the new engine," he says.

"An even bigger challenge is to future-proof the engine so when the next generation of consoles is here, we are already pretty good at squeezing the performance out of it. For example, we want the ability to have a particle system to run on the GPU for the 360, SPU on the PS3, and compute shaders on the future hardware, and this requires good design up front."

So the template for cutting-edge console development seems set then - the use of new techniques to draw out the last vestiges of performance from the likes of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, hitting the floor running with Wii U and utilising PC for laying the groundwork for next year's new hardware. In short, expect this year to carry on exactly where the last left off - however, I strongly suspect that CES will offer up a surprise or two and may well signal a new frontier for gaming.

Reports over Christmas re-ignited the rumours that Apple is looking to expand its range of hardware by branching out into TV territory, launching its own range of displays. This would be an interesting, not to mention ambitious resolution to a question I posed in last year's In Theory: Will Apple Launch a Home Games Console?. Why bother with a set-top box when it can be integrated into a brand new screen? Samsung has already made headway into this arena with its Smart TVs, where internet and TV are blended into one single product - so why not add gaming to the mix too?

"I'd like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use," Steve Jobs wrote in his autobiography. "It would be seamlessly synched with all of your devices and with iCloud. It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine."

While Apple is likely to stick to its own venues for massive product launches, hopefully CES will reveal other CE manufacturers' plans to bring gaming to 'next-gen' flatpanels. It makes sense to repurpose smartphone tech into displays and for games support to follow - the recent arrival of gamepad support for Samsung Smart TVs is surely a precursor to the migration of iOS and Android from mobile devices into the living room, while the arrival of the brilliant £15 Raspberry Pi demonstrates how a different branch of the same technology has the potential to revolutionise the teaching of computer sciences and re-invigorate homebrew coding.

For some, 2012 will be a frustrating year. There's been some debate that last year saw plenty of technological refinement but few new ideas and the maturation of the current gen console cycle played its part in that. It's difficult to believe that this year will be much different overall - even with the arrival of potentially brilliant titles such as GTA5, The Last Guardian, The Last of Us, Halo 4, BioShock Infinite and - we'd hope - a new game from the God of War team, amongst many others. But this year's E3 should help define what we can expect from the next-gen consoles and we'll get a better look at Wii U - however, the real tech stories of the year may well be outside of traditional "triple A" territory. Mobile has exploded over the last couple of years - 2012 may well see the same technology begin to take on the consoles on their home turf...